In the first quarter, the Spurs usually speed up their offensive tempo and try to establish some leading advantages at the beginning.

However, after the opening, Avery Johnson missed a pick-and-roll shot, and David Robinson made a mistake and was intercepted by Ben Wallace, only Duncan made a mid-range jump shot from the left elbow.

In this offense, Mario Elie broke through the basket and was blocked by Ben Wallace.

After several rounds, the Spurs fans at the scene were mostly disappointed.

Avery Johnson’s tactical foul stopped Lee’s counterattack.

The DJ on the scene hurriedly shouted:

“Defense! Defense! Defense!”

The defensive cheers were much quieter.

Elliott hurried to defend in front of Lee.

After the opening of tonight, the Spurs directly changed their defensive position.

On the right wing, trying to lower his body center of gravity, Elliott saw Lee, who was holding the ball in his right hand, suddenly leaned forward and accelerated, and hurriedly slid to the left and back.

While giving physical confrontation, Elliott did not stop his hand movements.

He realized that Lee was about to squeeze through the defense, and subconsciously wanted to speed up.

Lee suddenly crossed back quickly and returned to the three-point line in an instant.

Sliding back, Elliott found that he was shaken more than one meter away and completely gave up defense.

“Oh!”

Amid the exclamations of the fans on the scene, on the right wing, Lee easily dribbled the ball and quickly jumped outside the three-point line!

“Swish!” The three-pointer went into the net.

9:2, Popovich looked ugly and immediately requested a timeout.

With 8 minutes and 31 seconds left in the first quarter, the atmosphere group on the Knicks bench jumped up and down after the start of the game, cheering every time a goal was scored.

The best defender on the perimeter did not play any role.

Instead, because of the change of position, Alan Houston chased Avery Johnson and attacked fiercely at the beginning of the game.

The suggestions of fans and commentators were useless.

There was nothing wrong with Popovich’s game strategy to defend other players of the Knicks.

The two people in the commentary booth naturally saw Lee’s calm appearance when facing Elliott’s defense:

“The tall forward defense is not as agile as others. Lee can even squeeze through Elliott’s defense directly.”

“Maybe Coach Popovich is right, but the Spurs’ perimeter is not good enough.”

The noisy scene made Bob Costas raise his voice, and Doug Collins on the side said at this time:

“Tim Duncan seems tired. He has too much playing time. Don’t forget that he also has a lot of defensive tasks on the defensive end.”

Whenever the Spurs encounter problems, the solution is mostly to give the ball to Tim Duncan.

After the timeout, the Knicks team had a tacit understanding and began to press the three Spurs outside players, not giving the opponent an easy pass.

Duncan changed direction from right to left, and then found an opportunity to receive the ball with his back to the basket in the left blocking area.

However, Avery Johnson’s pass position was a little low due to Lee’s interference.

After receiving the ball and adjusting, Duncan was guarded by Oakley again.

Sensing the small movement behind him, Duncan immediately turned around, attacked facing the basket, took a quick tentative step with his right foot, and used his height advantage to make another jump shot.

Duncan hit consecutive mid-range jump shots after the opening, and the Spurs fans in the Alamodome began to cheer.

The Knicks kicked the ball out from the baseline.

Lee smiled when he received the ball.

No one on the Spurs was guarding him, and he realized that the opponent’s physical strength had declined.

Without rushing to advance, Lee first made a tactical gesture and came to the top of the arc, and Elliott then came to defend.

Oakley quickly moved to the three-point line and stood still.

Lee, holding the ball in his left hand, quickly went in and out, shaking right and left.

Elliott was shaken and subconsciously slid to the left.

Realizing that something was wrong, he wanted to chase and defend, but was delayed by Oakley.

Lowering his body center of gravity, Lee broke through on the left side with his shoulder, facing Duncan who was switching defense, and quickly pushed the ball to change direction.

While the opponent slid to the right, Lee scooped the ball with his right hand, and in the blink of an eye, he passed between the two and went straight to the basket.

In the previous games, Duncan could still continue to chase and defend, but tonight his feet were heavy and he lost his defensive position in an instant.

When David Robinson under the basket reacted, he had no time to jump completely, and Lee had already rushed up with three steps.

The two confronted each other in the air under the basket.

Lee grabbed the ball with his left hand, exerted a little force on his body, and after a short hover, he relied on David Robinson to completely dodge the block and easily picked the ball into the basket!

A scene that rarely appeared in the first four games made Bob Costas exclaim repeatedly:

“God! Unbelievable, Lee broke through the Spurs’ defense!”

David Robinson guarded the basket and Tim Duncan quickly assisted in defense.

This tried-and-tested defensive tactic failed at the beginning of tonight.

After making a layup, Lee turned his head and smiled at Duncan again.

When retreating, he passed by the opponent and whispered:

“I will continue to play pick-and-roll. Maybe you should guard the basket!”

“.”

Duncan still didn’t say anything, but widened his eyes.

When serving the baseline ball, he pulled David Robinson to whisper something.

Oakley was in a good mood.

The referee’s whistle scale tonight was not too obvious.

When defending the low post, some small actions were not called.

The old guy realized that the referee might find another whistle, and he strengthened the confrontation on the defensive end.

The outside shots were missed, and the Spurs began to pass the ball to the two big men again, but every attack seemed very sluggish, and the quality of the ball was not high.

David Robinson rarely made a strong attack under the basket.

Just as he retreated to half court, he saw Lee dribbling on the left wing, and his right hand quickly changed direction in front of his body, and instantly broke through Elliott’s defense.

The pick-and-roll prediction went wrong, Elliott lost his defensive position, and Duncan, who followed Oakley, failed to keep up with Lee’s offensive rhythm.

Amid the exclamations of the fans, Lee jumped up with both feet when he broke through to the paint area, facing David Robinson’s block, twisting his body to force a layup!

“Squeak!”

The referee blew the whistle immediately, and David Robinson didn’t even think about blocking the shot, and directly pulled.

However, Lee exerted his full strength, and under the huge impact, the “Admiral” staggered after completing the pull in the air and fell to the floor under the basket.

Lee was also pulled to lose his body center of gravity, and after landing, he released the force and slipped to the camera under the basket.

The basketball thrown casually hit the top of the backboard, then bounced twice on the basket, and finally fell into the net.

Noticing the ball went in, Lee, who had just been lying on the floor, stood up immediately, crossed his arms, posed, and calmly made an X to the camera.

The Alamodome instantly became quiet again, with only the atmosphere group of the Knicks team shouting wildly, waving towels, and jumping and dancing on the sidelines.

Oakley and his men pulled Lee up and walked to the free throw line.

A small number of New York fans at the scene shouted happily:

“MVP! MVP! MVP!”

Lee made the free throw steadily.

Jeff Van Gundy on the sidelines excitedly punched the air, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

He happily returned to the bench and hung up.

Popovich on the sidelines kept shouting after the game started.

It was just that the Spurs had difficulty scoring. Every time, it was Duncan and David Robinson who attacked.

Sometimes when they received the ball in the high position, they would be double-teamed by the nearby Knicks players.

After noticing that Duncan’s feet were heavy, Lee began to constantly pick and roll, tearing the defense again and again, and continued to toss the two big men on the opposite side.

At the end of the first quarter, David Robinson went to the free throw line again, but missed the first one.

There were sighs in the Alamodome.

In the commentary booth, Bob Costas looked at the silent arena and could only sigh:

“Tim Duncan is indeed tired. He is the player with the most playing time on both teams.”

“Not only does he have to carry the Spurs’ offense, but he also has to help defend every time he encounters a pick-and-roll on the defensive end, plus the rebounding task. Maybe he has reached his limit at this time.”

Noticing David Robinson’s second free throw, Doug Collins complained about Popovich’s rotation:

“About 41 minutes, which is barely a reasonable playing time. Unlike Lee who doesn’t have many tasks on the defensive end, the Spurs obviously overused Tim Duncan.”

24:15, with 1 minute and 30 seconds left in the first quarter, Popovich on the sidelines stared with his eyes wide open, as if he felt he had made a mistake.

At the top of the arc, Elliott failed to squeeze through the pick-and-roll in time, and Kurt Thomas, who came off the bench, provided a solid screen.

Lee, holding the ball in his left hand, suddenly and quickly dribbled the ball behind his back when facing Duncan who was delayed.

The basketball passed through the gap between people, and Lee scooped the ball with his right hand, breaking through Duncan’s defense again.

“Boo!”

The huge booing did not affect Lee.

At the moment when the Spurs’ defense was all shrinking, Lee secretly dribbled the ball behind his back while moving.

The basketball flew straight to the left corner.

Rashard Lewis, who had just come off the bench, received the ball.

There was no one in front of him, and he made a steady jump shot in an open three-pointer!

“Swish!” The three-pointer went into the net!

After scoring, Lewis shouted excitedly, jumped over and high-fived Lee to celebrate.

David Robinson was completely confused.

Looking at the retreat to Lewis, the emotion he showed was:

“Who the hell is this?”

The Spurs will naturally make a player report before the game, but Lewis played an average of 2.1 minutes in the regular season, and his statistics were nothing.

He also missed shots in garbage time in G1 of the finals.

In the only time he played, Lewis came up to commit a foul.

In the next round, Duncan attacked Kurt Thomas from the left post and squeezed under the basket.

Lewis immediately stepped forward and pulled him for a foul.

Jeff Van Gundy on the sidelines clapped his hands with a smile.

Chris Dudley had some physical problems tonight, so he had no choice but to use the new player, and the effect was not bad.

Duncan made both free throws, and the Spurs fans at the scene did not make a sound.

The double-digit score difference was unbearable.

Avery Johnson once again led the defense of Lee.

He made a pick-and-roll at the top of the arc, squeezed through the screen quickly, and cooperated with Duncan to double-team.

But when the two were about to close in, Lee shook his left wrist and passed the ball to the ground again, breaking through the defense.

Kurt Thomas went down and received the ball at the free throw line without defense.

He made a quick jump shot from mid-range!

“Swish!” The two-point shot was hit steadily.

With both sides missing shots in the last two rounds, the score was 29:17 after the first quarter.

On the Knicks bench, everyone was smiling and happily clapping their hands to celebrate.

On the other side, several Spurs players returned to their seats, all with their eyes wide open, as if they couldn’t believe that they were already 12 points behind.

Noticing the emotions of the Spurs, Doug Collins began to comment on the series:

“This is the strength of the MVP. As the series progresses, Lee will keenly grasp the opponent’s weaknesses!”

“Popovich paid the price for his use of players. Tim Duncan can always solve problems. It is understandable to rely on star players.”

In the first quarter, Lee made 5 of 6 shots, 1 of 1 from beyond the three-point line, 3 of 3 free throws, 14 points, 1 rebound, and 3 assists.

Tim Duncan made 3 of 7 shots, 2 of 2 free throws, and scored 8 points.

Both of them played the entire first quarter.

Seeing the technical statistics, Bob Costas could only sigh:

“The Knicks have a chance to end the series tonight, with a double-digit lead. Considering the current state of the Spurs on both offense and defense, it will be difficult for them to equalize the score.”

The Knicks made normal rotations, Lee rested on the bench, the Spurs changed the backcourt, and Popovich continued with Duncan.

The first quarter ended in a sluggish finish at the basket, but in the second quarter, Duncan regained his form, frequently attacking in the low post and constantly scoring in the paint.

Steve Kerr, who came on the court, was also trying to speed up at this time, but Chris Childs was tightly entangled with Kerr, so that the opponent could never get an open three-pointer.

Noticing that Lewis performed well, Oakley on the bench also whispered to Lee:

“I knew this softie could survive in the league.”

Sprewell was no longer stubborn tonight and sent a block.

He broke through to the basket to attract defense and assisted Lewis in the right corner to hit a three-pointer.

“Ah!!”

Although the role was simple, with a back foul and a three-pointer in the corner, Lewis couldn’t help but beat his chest and screamed when he saw the bald young coach give a thumbs up and scored a goal.

The Alamodome was filled with boos.

Two three-pointers brought the score difference back to 12 points.

In the audience, New York fans shouted happily.

This was the rhythm of the Knicks’ game.

With 7 minutes and 1 second left in the first half, Lee and his team returned to the court.

Larry Johnson went off to rest.

With three guards plus Oakley and Ben Wallace, the Knicks entered the singles mode again.

In the first round after his debut, Elliott defended Lee on the right wing outside the three-point line.

Still defending the ball, noticing that the opponent kept rushing up, Lee bent down to protect the ball, protecting the ball on the left side of his body, always maintaining a three-threat posture.

With a quick tentative step with his right foot, noticing that there was still no one to help defend on the line, Lee quickly released his left hand, dribbled the ball hard on the spot, and then stepped back sharply.

Elliott subconsciously jumped up to block the shot, but was still a beat late.

When Lee shot, he was already falling to his side, watching the basketball draw an arc and fall into the basket.

“Boo!”

In addition to the huge boos, the Spurs fans who couldn’t hold back also started to curse.

Doug Collins was secretly shocked by the almost unsolvable offensive method:

“Elliott has already defended well, but Lee’s shooting is too fast. Compared with the previous two seasons, his core strength has been significantly improved.”

The score difference widened again, and Bob Costas also talked about off-court talk at this time:

“I’m curious why Lee’s draft report didn’t give a high evaluation?”

“In addition to his lack of height, look at Lee’s current body shape, which is completely inconsistent with the report. In three years, he has become much stronger.”

The two people in the commentary booth started chatting and gossiping, but Tim Duncan on the court was a little anxious.

He tried to lead his teammates on the outside in the offense, but the Knicks insisted on single defense in the low post.

Once the ball went in, it was difficult to get out.

Except for Jaren Jackson’s strong three-pointer, most rounds did not have many good three-pointer opportunities.

Receiving the ball in the low post on the left again, Duncan turned quickly and came to the basket to make a strong shot.

Just as he was calling his teammates to finish their defensive positions, Alan Houston of the Knicks received a pass from Lee on the right wing, released the ball with his left hand, and broke through with a crossover step.

Instantly passing Jaren Jackson’s defense, Alan Houston made a quick stop jump shot at the right elbow of the free throw line!

The Spurs had just taken their defensive positions, and the Knicks had already retreated quickly.

After Lee signaled to speed up the offensive rhythm, the offense became more casual, but the effect was very good, and the Spurs could no longer keep up.

It seemed that only Popovich’s shouting was left in the stadium, constantly reminding the Spurs to continue fighting.

On the bench, Ewing, who was wearing a light gray suit, grinned.

He liked to see David Robinson miss.

David Robinson had no choice but to throw his hands away after missing a mid-range jump shot from the free throw line.

Seeing the Knicks launch a counterattack, he could only quickly retreat with his teammates.

In the transition offense, Lee missed a three-pointer from the left wing, and the long rebound bounced out and was just picked up by Sprewell.

Lee pretended to cut in without the ball, then quickly ran back to the three-point line to catch the ball again.

He raised the ball and faked it, and Kerr immediately jumped up to defend.

Lee let go of the ball with his left hand, and quickly moved sideways to avoid the block and easily made a jump shot!

“Swish!” Another three-pointer went in!

Popovich immediately requested a timeout, and the Alamodome was filled with only the cheers of New York fans.

47:31, with 2 minutes and 42 seconds left in the first half, the Knicks were already leading by 16 points.

The defense completely collapsed, and the expected three-pointer did not appear.

Steve Kerr walked to the bench, as if he recalled the loss to the Bulls, and sighed secretly:

“No more championships.”

Lee smiled and high-fived his teammates to celebrate, and the game had completely entered the stage of the wind.

Popovich noticed that the Spurs were in low spirits, and hurriedly sent out some chicken soup:

“The game is not over yet, we still have a lot of time to turn the score around.”

“Pay attention to defense, we can double-team in advance, and we can’t give the other side any easy chance to score!”

Duncan sat in his seat and panted heavily.

It was easy for Popovich to say, but the Knicks shot it after half court, showing no signs of slowing down.

On the offensive end, he needed to wrestle with the old guy on the opposite side, and on the defensive end, he had to help defend and fill in the gap.

David Robinson fell silent again at this time.

He couldn’t blame his teammates for losing a long rebound.

Everyone tried their best.

In the last few minutes of the half-time game, the Spurs’ offense still didn’t improve much.

On some rounds, the Knicks seized the opportunity and easily counterattacked and scored.

Avery Johnson had just come on the court, and his cross pass from the left wing was intercepted by Clay Lee.

“Boo!”

The sudden mistake caused boos from the audience again.

Lee rushed quickly after catching the ball with his left hand, and easily made a gliding dunk with 1 vs. 0 in the front court!

“The game is over. The Spurs seem to have lost their fighting spirit. They have already made 4 turnovers in the second quarter.”

Bob Costas summarized the game in a brisk tone.

Doug Collins beside him nodded in agreement:

“The Knicks once again played an efficient offense. When they started running, the Spurs’ defense was already broken.”

The two of them blew their trumpet.

The disappointed Spurs fans stopped shouting with DJ.

Looking at the halftime score, everyone knew that the game was over.

56:39, the Knicks led by 17 points.

Sprewell’s efficiency was rising, Larry Johnson found his touch, and Alan Houston scored steadily.

Lee was in a good mood when he walked back to the player’s tunnel.

The team could prepare for the award ceremony later.

After returning to the locker room, Jeff Van Gundy walked around excitedly, repeatedly admonishing:

“Don’t be careless, don’t give the opponent any chance to gain momentum, and keep our defensive intensity.”

“There are only two quarters left before the championship, stay patient, the uniform team has prepared everything for us, and we will win the championship in San Antonio tonight!”

“.”

The bald young coach kept nagging, and everyone in the locker room didn’t care, chatting and laughing.

After the start of the second half, the Spurs began to double-team again.

Avery Johnson was already desperate, constantly chasing Lee.

But the weak side that was left open responded tonight.

Larry Johnson hit a three-pointer and also caused a foul when he broke into the basket.

When the Spurs attacked, David Robinson missed shots at the basket and failed to finish several rounds.

It was Duncan’s frontcourt rebounds that prevented the score difference from widening.

The Alamodome became quieter and quieter, and frustration began to fill the hearts of the Spurs players.

Mario Elie finally made a shot from beyond the three-point line, but within two rounds, Alan Houston and Lee responded one after another.

Tim Duncan is still the most stable scoring point for the Spurs, attacking the basket and standing on the free throw line.

But on the defensive end, facing the high pick-and-roll, Duncan, whose physical strength has declined, can only use fouls to stop Lee’s breakthrough.

With 1 minute and 1 second left in the third quarter, Duncan’s pull made Lee stand on the free throw line again.

There was no booing in the stadium, and the disappointed Spurs fans just watched Lee make two free throws in silence.

On the Knicks bench, Ewing and the atmosphere group celebrated with fists.

After three quarters, 83:60, Popovich stood still on the sidelines, seemingly unable to believe that the Spurs were already 23 points behind.

In the last quarter, after struggling for less than 6 minutes, both sides replaced the atmosphere group step by step.

On the Knicks bench, everyone stood up to watch the game and high-fived each other.

Old Charles, who was sitting in the front row, also smiled and kept whispering to David Stern next to him.

Boos gradually appeared in the Alamodome again.

Some extreme fans began to criticize Popovich again and booed their own head coach.

The game time passed quickly. In the end, 99:81, the Knicks defeated the Spurs.

“Boo!”

Seeing everyone on the Knicks bench hugging each other, a large number of reporters rushed to the center of the court, and the Spurs fans booed again.

Jeff Van Gundy kept hugging the coaching staff members next to him, while raising his hands and punching the air in celebration.

Ewing noticed that David Robinson on the Spurs bench had not stood up with a towel on his face, and he grinned for a while, feeling very happy.

Tim Duncan was very graceful.

The silent power forward in the game hugged and greeted everyone on the Knicks team immediately after the game.

In the center of the court, Lee raised two fingers, smiled and posed in front of the media reporters.

Noticing that Duncan had come over, he turned around and hugged him.

“Congratulations, Lee! You are indeed a better team. I hope we will have the opportunity to play against each other in the future!”

“Have you considered playing for the Spurs?”

Duncan congratulated him and finally made a joke, trying to hide his lost emotions.

“A wonderful series, I’m glad we can meet in the finals!”

The two are one year apart in age.

Lee smiled and fist-bumped with him again, and soon responded with a joke:

“San Antonio is not suitable for me. Come on, Tim, the future belongs to you!”

(A/N: Lol, one of the iconic line in NBA.)

In addition to clicking cameras frantically, the sports media around them also handed the radio equipment to the two.

Everyone wanted to hear what the two core players were saying.

Duncan, who was getting more and more disappointed, did not notice Lee’s polite words.

After another simple business exchange, he turned around and left, walking quickly towards the player tunnel.

After entering the player tunnel, Duncan, who was in a better mood, realized that something was wrong.

He seemed to be one year older than Lee, and couldn’t help but curse:

“Shit! Damn the future!”

“.”

….

By the way, don’t forget to throw power stones and leave a review to motivate me 🙂

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep